A version of this editorial originally appeared in The Orlando Sentinel on March 15, 2023 Florida tops many list of rankings. One hopes we would rank number one when it comes to religious liberty. Florida currently ranks fourth in the nation in religious liberty behind Mississippi, Illinois, and New Mexico, according to The Center … Read more
Religious Freedom in Florida: Let’s Be #1
Common Grace: Waning Grace? (1/5)
This blog is one of a five-part series of articles on Common Grace. Common Grace is not often a topic for sermons or conversations, and yet it is vital if we hope to “live by faith not as a single act, but something habitual and permanent.” (David Clarkson, Works) Americans have good reason as of … Read more
The Romanticism of Uncontacted Peoples Isn’t So Romantic
In Death of a Missionary Tunku Varadarajan criticizes the motivation and seeming foolishness of missionary John Allen Chau, the young man recently killed by the North Sentinel Islanders as Chau attempted to bring them the Christian Gospel. Varadarajan defends an anthropological theory popular with many concerning uncontacted people groups. The uncontacted peoples theory argues that … Read more
Pastoral Care Via the Lens of Whole Life Discipleship
At the corner of Liberty and Albercorn in historic Savannah, Georgia, stands a monument to the work of the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy. Serving the city since 1845, the sisters pioneered the creation of schools, orphanages, and hospitals, most of which still thrive today. Over the years the sisters served students, orphans, slave children, … Read more
As Turkey persecutes a Christian pastor, what price freedom?
This editorial appeared in the Orlando Sentinel on Easter morning, April 14, 2017. On this Easter morning, I and hundreds of millions of Christians worldwide will be with our local church celebrating the resurrection of Jesus. My colleague, Andrew Brunson, however, will not. Andrew and his wife, Norine, have peaceably ministered in Turkey as Presbyterian … Read more
Andy Crouch, What Does the Faith and Work Movement Need to Hear?
In early February, I probed the thoughts of Andy Crouch, author, blogger, and speaker. Crouch had just resigned as executive editor at Christianity Today and moved to the John Templeton Foundation as a communication strategist. His books and speaking engagements have made him a thought leader on culture, and connected him notably to the faith … Read more
Processing in the Inaugural Prayer Service: America! America!
America! America! God mend thine every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law! –America the Beautiful (Katharine Lee Bates) It had been a long glorious morning full of adrenaline, symbolism, and splendid pomp and circumstance. Then we sang the second stanza of the hymn “America the Beautiful.” Confirming my soul … Read more
Star Wars & the Bible
My colleague, Jack Peebles, loves the Star Wars movie saga. I thought I was a fan, and I am. Yet, Jack has shown me new heights of character appreciation, plot connection, and theological meaning. The recent release of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story allowed Jack and me to dig ever more deeply into this … Read more
One Hell of a Year for #GenXers
This blog originally appeared on www.collabortiaveorlando.com December 31, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. 2016 had all the potential of being one of those watershed years of life because the big 4-0 was upon me. While my birthday came and went, the significance of 2016 seems to be the unusually large number of pop culture icons from … Read more
From the Analakely Market to the NYSE (1/2)
From the Analakely Market to the NYSE: Business as Mission Paved the Faith & Work Path ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar – I am writing from the end of a continent; to some, the end of the earth: the island nation of Madagascar. Out my hotel window is the historic Analakely Market in the capital city known affectionately … Read more
